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Modern Warfare
Warfare Overview It's not easy to wage war these days; the nature of the worlds makes it a difficult prospect. Not only do you need to gather and train an army, establish supply lines, and other standard motions, but you have to do so across vast stretches of terrain which tend to be infested with large, angry critters. Almost every military option has some kind of unpleasant to it, and most of those counters come from Nature. If a mechanized regiment from the Jehmarrahj Emirates rolls across the wastes to attack Brackolaan, they must beware of Rust Monsters. The NEF and its primarily infantry-based armies often look like snacks to rocs, dinosaurs, and dire beasts. Naval forces live in constant fear of various leviathans that can crack ships open like empty beers, and of kua-toa and sahuagin that look at battles as raiding opportunities. Air combat isn't much safer, pilots must worry about harpies, dragons, and other flying beasts that don't care that an air superiority fighter is already in the middle of a battle and doesn't need more stress. Even in space, dangers invisible against the infinite black and background radiation lurk in wait for unwary ships to tear to pieces. Land Warfare The basics of ground combat haven't changed much. Heavy armor, like tanks, tend to move in formations. Infantry and mecha usually rely on tactical squads. Every country does things a bit differently- some use professional soldiers, some use knights and peasant militias, some fight with drafts and human wave tactics, others go for full mechanization, and some use various kinds of cavalry and magical beasts. Magical empowerment also changes a lot of rules, a single wizard can turn a knight on horseback into a greater threat than a soldier with a light MG. A disciplined monk can wipe out whole trenches of poorly trained draftees. Guns are useful but not all powerful, cannons are strong but spellcasters more versatile, and many magical beasts can be far more dangerous than a main battle tank with a little effort. Simple spells can change the entire course of a battlefield if properly used, just as readily as a heavily armed mecha with a skilled pilot can. Armies tend to fall into one of two categories: highly trained or highly diverse. There's advantage and failings to both and not much middle ground. Highly trained troops of specific sorts can be easily funded and cared for, but rely on a very narrow set of parameters to win battles and achieve victory. Diverse armies by contrast are the sorts that bring everything from A to Z to war, but the more diverse the army is the more difficult it can be to maintain. If an army includes standard trench soldiers, war gryphons, pegasus knights, and dragon riders, it's going to be much more costly to keep together as special accommodations must be made for care and feeding. Actual tactics tend to fall somewhere between WW2 and Vietnam War-era strategies: squads are the basic unit measurement of combat. Naval Warfare Most naval vessels fall into one of three classes: Skiffs, Cruisers, and Bismarcks. Skiffs are the smallest craft, short range boats used for recon, patrol, and harassment. Lightly armed and armored, they rely on speed and crew skill to survive, working either as individuals or in groups as skirmishers and escorts. Their low fuel requirements let them operate in many theaters with ease. Against marine wildlife, skiffs don't usually bother getting into fights unless they've got a major numerical advantage, otherwise they run away. Cruisers are the next major step, and the workhorses of most navies, civilian and military. A cruiser is a suitably large vessel, possessing a solid mixture of size, speed, armor, crew, and storage capacity to be a threat on the seas. Endlessly variable, they can fit any role a fleet might require: destroyers, cargo carriers, supply ships, fire support, amphibious assault carriers, communications, waste recycling, just about anything whether they're surface or submarine vessels. Finally there are the Bismarcks. Whether surface or submarine, these massive craft are aquatic supremacy battleships. They're the only ships big enough to have enough armor, guns, and deckhands to be true battleships; other, smaller designs- while cheaper and still powerful- were only capable of handling mortal enemies, but they couldn't measure up against the leviathans that wait in the deeps. Aerial Warfare Most planes run on propellers. The technology for jet turbines exists, but doesn't see a lot of use; such engines are extremely thirsty devices, and biodiesel just doesn't deliver compared to petrol, so they can't be fueled for any significant length of time. The other issue is speed; jets are actually too fast to survive against certain enemies, namely giant flying creatures like dragons and rocs. Several drakes have gone so far as to demonstrate firstclaw what happens when jets are sent against them- the machines travel at such high speeds and are so fragile that the average adult dragon can empower themselves with a spell or two and just get the jet to crash into them; the machine and its pilot will atomize on impact, but the dragon will survive. But even without dragons flying around, jets don't have the armor needed to survive prolonged engagements. Modern prop craft however, do. Helicopters often fill something of a niche role in modern air fleets. They're usually either huge, heavy machines made for prolonged combat, transport, and medievac, or small and fragile things for air recon and rapid transit over short distances. There's not many dedicated combat helis, their rotor systems tend to be flimsy and easily destroyed. Freelancers however find them popular, and often employ them for individual missions for their versatility and maneuverability, and for their ability to get into small spaces better than planes. Missile technologies, while possessing enormous potential, suffer the same issues that jets doextremely resource intensive, and then you have the issue of orbital sight systems and spellcasters that can use their powers to shoot the things down before they can hit their targets. Strategic weapons, like atomic bombs or nukes, don't really exist. Uranium is just too rare a resource to waste on WMDs, so the Mutually Assured Destruction mindset that once held Earth hostage is pretty well nonexistent here. Space Warfare The only reliable source of starships that are spaceworthy for long periods come from the Solarwind Transmigratory Fleet, and the costs involved in getting anything from them large than a cruiser are not small by any means. Most nations try to avoid space combat whenever possible, not counting the two remaining goblinoid warships and the Neo-Earth Federation. It is these three forces in fact that force most space navies to be purely defensive fleets, which can only be afforded by the wealthiest nations; the Jehmarrahj Emirates, the Ryengo Empire, Allamian Commonwealth, and Paradise City are among the few countries with the funds necessary to make significant purchases from the Solarwinds. Even with such purchases however, spacecraft serve too many national needs of transport, protection, and orbital recon to let them get into a scrap except for defensive purposes. No technology has yet been produced or provided for orbital bombardment campaigns- attempts to drop anything deadly have thus far only been destroyed by the stresses and pressures of atmospheric entry, and the ships and liveable space stations are all far too valuable to waste with suicide drops. So, most vessels must remain spacebound, and attached to stations or satellites of national interest. The only ships not constrained by these issues are those belonging to space pirate gangs, independent traders, and mercenary groups; all of whom eventually get into fights with other ships as a matter of course. The basics of space combat are, fortunately, simple things to train people for; it's not that much different from training pilots for terrestrial purposes. The most popular tactics involve heavy ships relying on broadsides and snub fighters, while smaller frigates or galleons rigged for combat attack in fast waves from various hiding places like stellar dust clouds, overwhelming enemy defenses with massed firepower and confusion. Setting Information Back to Main Page